Man makes 400 shoes to repay childhood debt

A deep gratitude can be powerful enough to drive a person to persist in repaying for 10 years,even decades later.


To repay the kindness of his neighbors, a 51-year-old man with infantile paralysis in SouthwestChina's Chongqing has made nearly 400 pairs of cloth shoes for them in the last 10 years,Chongqing Business Daily reported Tuesday


Tan Kecheng got a fever at the age of 2. His parents had no choice but to keep him at home asthey could not afford to take him to the hospital.


A visiting neighbor learned of Tan's situation three days later and mobilized other residents inthe area to donate money for Tan's treatment. Tan's family finally collected enough money andtook Tan to the hospital.


Tan was saved but left with infantile paralysis. During the following years, Tan's motherconstantly told him to keep in mind the kindness of his neighbors.


Then Tan started to make cloth shoes with his own hands 10 years ago and began giving themto the neighbors who helped him. To make the shoes, he goes out with his walking stick tocollect materials, such as used clothes and abandoned tires, as his only income is the socialsubsidy of 600 yuan ($95) a month.


It takes Tan two days to a week to make a pair of cloth shoes. Over the years, Tan has madenearly 400 pairs of cloth shoes for his neighbors.